Gaming houses, casinos, and the like are the consumers of large number of playing card decks, each comprised of 52 basic cards used in conducting various games such as Poker, Blackjack and Bakerat. The standardized sizes of playing cards vary, the smaller cards being 21/4.times.31/2 inch, and the larger cards being 21/2.times.31/2 inch. These are the widely used sizes, the more expensive and permanent cards being made of plastic. At the present day, there is a transition from the more expendable paper cards to the more permanent plastic cards, however continued use of such cards requires their cleaning from time to time, as they are handled by countless numbers of persons. Furthermore, the card players demand clean cards, and it has been the practice of the gaming houses, and casinos, to wash them by hand, and all of which is time consuming but quite necessary as the plastic cards which are now widely used are also quite expensive. Therefore, it is a general object of this invention to provide an apparatus for the cleaning of playing cards, whether they be of paper or plastic, and whether they be of the small or large standard size.
Playing cards are made of stiff paper or plastic of about 0.012 inch in thickness and having a hard and smooth finish. They are susceptible to becoming dirty when handled by person after person, it being an object of this invention to clean playing cards in public establishments, for the purpose of improving health conditions, as well as to enhance the condition of the cards and preserve them. The apparatus for cleaning playing cards as it will be described herein, involves, separation of individual cards from a deck thereof and sequentially feeding the same, scrubbing said individual cards, drying said individual cards, and re-establishing the cards in deck formation. It is an object of this invention to automate the foregoing generalized process steps by providing complementary means therefor. With the present invention, automation is by electric motor means and inherently synchronized and virtually jamb-proof, there being the discrete application of a liquid solution whereby the individual cards are wetted and then dried.
Decks of playing cards are commonly stored in shoes of one or more decks, and it is such a shoe in which decks of cards are loaded into the apparatus of the present invention, It is an object of this invention to provide a separating means that withdraws one card at a time from the shoe supply thereof and feeds them sequentially to a scrubbing means. It is also an object of this invention to provide a scrubbing means that applies a minimal amount of liquid cleaning solution to both sides of the cards while transporting them to a drying means. And it is also an object of this invention to provide a drying means that wipes and absorbs moisture from the opposite sides of the cards and delivers them into a receptacle for their subsequent use in a cleaned condition.
A characteristic feature and advantage of the apparatus as it will be hereinafter disclosed is the use of minimal liquid in performing the scrubbing step, and the use of softening agents of the nonionic and cationic types. It is an object of this invention to reduce and/or to prevent "static cling", which would otherwise interfere with the transport and discharge of the playing cards. With the present invention the aforesaid softening agents are in a solution of carbonated water transferred to the opposite sides of the cards in a thin film simultaneously with a scrubbing action.